BERGEN COUNTY — County law enforcement has seen a shift in narcotics investigations away from Hackensack, Newark and Paterson and into the suburbs, the Record reported.

Police expect to see more cases like that of Darius Gharary, 44, who was arrested in February and charged with manufacturing drugs in his Upper Saddle River home.

Law enforcement has turned its attention to the growing exchange of narcotics in the suburbs, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. Molinelli believes most first-time heroin users in Bergen County are getting the drug within the county itself.

Gharary was charged with manufacturing drugs, manslaughter and causing the drug-induced death of Daniel Lajterman, 19, of Ramsey. Gharary allegedly sold to "numerous young adults" across northern Bergen County, Molinelli said.

Young people have increasingly turned to heroin as a cheaper alternative to prescription pill abuse. The number of people between the ages of 18 and 25 seeking treatment for opiate addiction increased 12 percent from 2010 to 2011.